1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of vehicle aftermarket products, in particular, to a kit comprising large protective and decorative panels that conform to the general shape of sections of the exterior surface of a vehicle body. The panels can be easily and conveniently attached to and removed from the vehicle body to improve the aesthetics of the vehicle and to provide increased protection against scratches and dents to the underlying body structures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles are typically provided with an exterior body both to conceal and protect underlying mechanical assemblies and to provide an attractive appearance to the vehicle. The body also defines an enclosed interior compartment for the operator and passengers and frequently an enclosed or open storage area. Such vehicles are typically equipped with doors to facilitate access into the interior of the vehicle. The body and doors are typically made of at least one of sheet steel, aluminum, fiberglass, and plastic. The body and doors are also typically painted in the case of sheet metal or fiberglass material or provided with intrinsic coloring in the case of plastic. The paint serves to protect underlying materials from corrosion/deterioration and from exposure to harmful environmental conditions such as ultraviolet light, rain, and smog.
Some car manufacturers provide the exterior surface of the car with the look of wood. Vehicles with such wood exterior appearances are popularly referred to as xe2x80x9cWoodysxe2x80x9d. This is typically done by applying contact paper, or appliques, having a wood grain design to the exterior surface of the car doors and body. However, these contact papers offer very limited protection against scratching the underlying body panel and paint and essentially no protection against denting, UV light, and rain. As such, the xe2x80x9cwoodyxe2x80x9d appearance created by these papers tend to fade, peel, and otherwise deteriorate over time.
Moreover, wood grain pattern contact papers and appliquxc3xa9s are extremely difficult to apply in large sheets to cover the relatively large vertical surfaces of many vehicles without creating creases, air bubbles, tears, and the like in the appliquxc3xa9 material. This often adds to the time and cost of creating the woody appearance. Furthermore, when applied to convex areas on the vehicle body, the contact papers tend to create high stress areas that are susceptible to damage and cracking over time. Moreover, the contact paper or appliques are also typically bordered with multi-part trim pieces that further increase the time and cost of application.
From the forgoing it can be appreciated that there is a need for protective and decorative vehicle panels that can be conveniently applied to existing vehicles and includes authentic wood grain appearance that does not deteriorate over time. There is a need for panels that are resilient so as to offer protection from scratching and denting to underlying structures. There is a further need for panels that can be formed in complex shapes to better accommodate existing and future vehicle designs and for panels that are formed in a single piece to reduce the time and expense of applying the panels to a vehicle.
In one aspect, the preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a pre-assembled aftermarket kit for converting the exterior appearance of a vehicle. The kit comprises a plurality of individual pieces, each piece having a rigid substrate that is contoured to match an exterior surface of the outer panels of the vehicle. Preferably, the substrate has a decorative and protective finish and is sized so as to distribute force exerted against the individual pieces over the area of the individual piece so as to protect the underlying outer panels of the vehicle. The kit also comprises a plurality of attachments that attach the plurality of individual pieces to the underlying outer panels of the vehicle. In one embodiment, the individual pieces include a door piece that is adapted to mount to the exterior surface of a car door so as to cover the exterior surface of the door. In another embodiment, the door piece is dimensioned so as to cover at least approximately ⅓ of the portion of the door below a window on the door. Preferably, the exterior surface of the substrates of the individual pieces has a wood-grain appearance.
In another aspect, the preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a method for making aftermarket conversion of the exterior appearance of a vehicle. The method comprises providing a plurality of individual pieces. Preferably, each piece comprises a rigid polymeric substrate, a decorative layer, and an outer protective layer and each individual piece is contoured to match a region of the exterior surface of the vehicle. The method further comprises mounting the individual pieces to the respective regions of the exterior surface of the vehicle in a manner such that an interior surface of the substrate of each piece is positioned adjacent the exterior surface of the vehicle. In one embodiment, the step of providing the individual pieces comprises joining together the substrate, decorative, and outer protective layers via a first process so as to form a single-piece panel, followed by thermo-vacuum forming the panel to match the contours of the respective region of the vehicle. In another embodiment, the step of providing the individual pieces comprises contouring the substrate using a first process to match the contours of the respective region of the vehicle, joining together the decorative and outer protective layers into a combined layer using a second process, and contouring the combined decorative and protection layer to match the contours of the substrate. In this embodiment, the mounting step comprises first mounting the substrate to the vehicle, followed by mounting the combined decorative and protect layer to the substrate.
In yet another aspect, the preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a protective and decorative one-piece vehicle exterior body panel. The panel comprises a rigid and resilient material, a decorative layer, and a transparent protective layer. Preferably, the decorative layer is interposed between the substrate and the protective layer wherein the substrate, decorative, and protective layers are combined and contoured to form the one-piece panel. Preferably, the panel is rigid, resilient, and unitized and such that the panel has a three-dimensional contour including at least one of concave and convex curves so as to conform to and be removably attached to existent body structure of a vehicle. Preferably, the decorative layer comprises a wood-grain appearance and the protective layer provides the decorative layer protection against impinging ultraviolet radiation.
Advantageously, the panels may be shaped to match the contour of the existent body panels. The panels are formed from a thin sheet, but are shaped to have a three-dimensional profile that matches the outer profile of a real wood body panel. However, comprising thin material, the panels are lighter and much more robust than an equivalent wood panel. They are provided to be resistant to UV radiation and are much less susceptible to environmental degradation than wood alone is. The panels are also made of sufficient thickness to offer substantially better protection against scratching and denting than simple sticker appliques. These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent from the detailed description as follows.